The Zestrum Conflict
by Greatness942
Summary: Out in the confines of space lies the home world of a species long forgotten by science: The Alik'Onir, a hybrid of man and reptiles who escaped from their creators on Earth. Two such hybrids, Noar, Dahkat of Jarot, and General Rahjat have kidnapped warriors and put them to the test in the arena. Who lives? Who dies? It no longer matters to them.
1. I: A Coup in the Making

_Zestrum_

The sound of chains being moved about by the struggling muscles of the bound prisoner echoed through the throne room of the capital of Jarot, a grim reminder as to the fate of the hapless prisoner who was being dragged across the carpet that lead up to the throne. Green scales chipped off the prisoner's leg as it burned across the floor as he futilely attempted to escape the cuffs that kept him at the mercy of the guards. He was a humanoid with green scales and a snout with two sharp, venomous fangs. His eyes were green with slit pupils, and he was dressed in royal attire. This prisoner was the former king of Jarot, capital of the planet Zestrum. Up until recently, this king, named Dopoka, was leading his people with ambiguous intention, though it always lead to painful and terrible results. Corpses lined the streets and fires burned around them. And up until recently, he was unaware of a coup happening right under his nose.

Finally, Dopoka's journey grinded to a halt as he was thrown in front of the silver throne, on which sat a different king. He resembled a humanoid iguana, with green skin that felt like leather, and spikes running down his spine, poking through his purple robes. He had a grin upon his snout which, while bearing the flat and sharp hybrid befitting an iguana, still looked menacing. "So, Dopoka," the new king began, "how does it feel to kneel before the one person you fear the most?"

The former leader rose up and stared at the new king with saddened eyes, fearing for his life at this dire moment. "Please, Noar-" he began, before being interrupted by a sharp hiss.

" _Dahkat_ Noar," Noar corrected, anger present in his conviction as he leaned forward in his seat, "For too long you've sat comfortable, a dictator to your own people. To your own _blood_! I'm tired of it. It's time to change the world."

"Like you're any better!" Dopoka shouted, vengeful in his violent struggles to free himself from his bonds. "I know you, Noar, you sick _fuck_. I know what you get up to behind closed doors. I know that you're only going to make things worse!"

Noar sighed and leaned back onto the throne, cracking the bones in his neck as the breath left his body. "If that's how you feel, I guess I can't persuade you otherwise...Rahjat?" he said, forcing Dopoka to turn his head. Stepping out of the shadows was another Alik'Onir, another snake hybrid. This one had brown scales and cold, dead eyes that seemed to stretch into infinity. His expression was dull, as though the events in front of him didn't even matter. Instead of a snout, a more human-like pair of lips bore sharp teeth. Behind him were six chrome androids, all resembling him in build and head shape, though with eyes that glowed different colors and a crest on their heads.

"General Rahjat...you traitorous whore, wait until I get my hands on you!" Dopoka shouted, jumping towards the leader of the military in vain as he landed face down on the floor.

"Something tells me you won't get the chance," Noar calmly said, as Rahjat dragged him back towards the throne. "Rahjat...end his misery."

As the sound of pulsing energy blades fired behind him, Dopoka began yelling and screaming at Noar, who couldn't even pay it any mind as he watched the slash of the plasma slice through his neck. Dopoka's head landed right in front of the throne, green blood splattering across the ground, which Noar picked up and held up high in celebration. Rather than fire, there would be a grand stadium. Though the end result was the same: that arena would host only bloodshed.

* * *

 _Remnant, Three Months Later…_

It was a normal Saturday morning at Beacon Academy, or at least as normal as it was to a young Ruby Rose. As she cracked her eyes open and looked out to the dorm's window, she felt a faint smile on her face as she looked at the rays of sunshine cascading into the room. With a yawn and a quick stretch of her muscles, it was only then that she realized that everyone else was still asleep, mostly due to the lack of noise that her sister, Yang, would usually create upon waking up. Looking at her blonde sister, who was sound asleep and snoring, her gaze slowly moved downwards to look at the Faunus below her. Dressed in the black yukata she usually wore to bed, Blake's bow twitched on her head as she hugged a black book closer to her and stayed within peaceful sleep. Ruby smiled warmly as she looked at the bed that served as the bottom bunk, peeking over at Weiss as she also lay dreaming. She was covered up by every blanket on her bed, and her white hair was messily splayed out all over the pillow, but no one would dare say that she was anything but beautiful.

Creeping down from her bed to the floor below, the only person stirring from the sound of her bare feet hitting the ground being Blake, Ruby snuck over to the team's shared dresser and carefully opened it. Taking her underwear out of the drawer, she carefully walked to the closet and pulled out her Huntress outfit, taking the red hood with her. With even more careful steps into the bathroom, she breathed in as she closed the door and walked to the tub. With several turns of the hot water handle, the shower rained down like a storm in the tub, as Ruby stripped off her clothes and stepped inside. With a few adjustments of the cold water, the young Huntress closed her eyes and simply relaxed under the rain, as thoughts ran past her mind about the rest of the day.

* * *

"So, what's the plan for today?" the studious Blake Belladonna asked as she and her team walked the hallowed halls of Beacon academy. It was around 12:00 AM at this point, and all four members of Team RWBY were energized and ready for whatever came their way.

Their hyperactive leader was practically shaking with energy as she walked. She had planned out an action packed day for her friends, and even the mere thought of the activities she had planned left her even more excited. "Well...I had the whole day planned out! You're gonna love it, first we're going to-"

"Um, Ruby?" Weiss asked, interrupting her leader. Her voice was confused and unfocused, which made Ruby turn her head to meet Weiss's gaze upon whatever it was she found. And indeed, it was something to be confused about. It was a green gem, no taller than Ruby's knee and no wider than a glass cup. The gem was spiky and uncut, and seemed to glow with an unnatural energy. "What is that?"

"Maybe it's some weird new Dust," Yang suggested, which only made Weiss shake her head.

"Can't be, the SDC would have told me about something like this," Weiss denied, only to mutter "Unless Father doesn't trust me enough to know it."

"Whatever it is, we can't just touch it," Blake said, taking a step away from the gem, "We don't know what it does."

"Doesn't Dust need to be activated?" Ruby asked, walking closer to the new gem. Leaning down, she gently gripped it as she said "Besides, someone needs to figure out what this is. Maybe Professor Peach can-"

Within an instant, a green glow enveloped the crystal and within seconds, Ruby disappeared into the green glow. Before anyone could react, the light of the glow bounced from glow to glow, making them and their weapons vanish from sight as the crystal finally ceased glowing. The crystal then shook around before shattering into pieces across the ground.

"Alright, so I ordered the pizzas you wanted, what now?" Jaune asked, exiting his dorm to meet the girls. When all he saw was a shattered crystal scattered across the ground, his confused gaze looked around, not knowing what had happened to them. "...Ruby? Weiss? Guys?"

* * *

The next thing the girls of Team RWBY knew, they were surrounded by white. A whole white perimeter was around them, with both white light and white walls that created a barrier around them, leaving no corner exposed as the bright light enveloped them. "Wha-...what happened?" Ruby asked, as she rose back to her feet, stepping on the white floor.

"Where are we?" Weiss asked, placing a hand on the wall to support herself as stood. Right when her delicate fingers touched the white wall, however, static seemed to glitch the wall out of existence, replacing it with its true face. The room was still clean, but it was a much more lived-in shade of brown, coupled with shades of black and more than a hint of red. Two machines were installed on either side, both sharing the appearance of a chrome coffee maker with a sophisticated keypad on either side. There were also double doors leading out of the room, made of wood and what seemed like another, glowing material.

"Whoa," Yang surmised, "t-this is weird."

"That's an understatement," Blake added, standing on unsteady feet as she looked around, "Do we know where we are?"

Right when their young leader shook her head, another voice came through as the door opened. The voice carried a British accent, and when RWBY turned to see who said what they did, they were shocked to see an inhuman creature, resembling a humanoid, brown iguana. "No. No you do not." were the words the creatures spoke, as he gripped the door trim with his leathery hands.

"Holy shit!" Yang blurted out, shocked at what she saw. Ruby and Weiss silently backed up, too stunned to formulate a response.

"W-What are you?" Blake asked, reaching back to grab Gambol Shroud with her left hand. To her sudden shock, her blade was not there.

The creature chuckled at their reactions and explained "Right, you don't know, then. I am an Alik'Onir. A race of hybrids, formed from man and reptile. You are currently in the Bloodworks in Jarot, on the planet Zestrum. I'm-"

Stopping him was a sudden, _very_ hyperactive fifteen-year old girl jumping into his vision in a sea of rose petals. "D-Did you say P-Planet? As in, we're not on Remnant? As in, you're an alien?!"

Right when Noar nodded, he immediately knew he had made a mistake. Not in the shocked faces of the other three, but rather the damn-near literal bouncing off walls Ruby engaged in. "A real life alien, that's so cool! Do you have laser guns, I hope you do. Are they combined with anything, because a laser sword with a laser gun attached would be _so_ cool! I-" she said, speaking as fast as she ran as she hopped around excitedly. Placing an iguana-skin finger on her lips, Noar stopped the train of thought calmly.

"Yes, yes, indeed," he says as he pulls his hand back, "But you should allow me to introduce myself. I am Noar, the Dahkat, or "King", of Jarot." As he bowed in respect, the girls reluctantly followed suit, though Ruby stayed on her feet, excited to see this new creature.

"It's g-good to meet you," Weiss said, still carrying an unbelieving tone in her voice. "I'm Weiss Schnee."

With a wave of his hand, Noar said "Not necessary, dear." Right there, a small Quad Drone with what appeared to be a camera emerged from the other door, with another Alik'Onir behind it: General Rahjat. The Drone rushed up and seemed to scan each one, a blue light shimmering over them. With a beep of approval, the Drone rushed back to Rahjat and chirped quietly.

"Um, okay," Blake said after a short pause, "Well, this was...interesting. But we don't want to overstay our welcome."

"Yeah," Ruby said, "We came here by accident and we don't want to be a bother. There was this crystal thing, and-"

"It was no accident," Noar quickly said.

"I beg your pardon?" Weiss asked, "What do you mean, it wasn't an accident?"

"Well, you see...I brought you here myself," Noar explained, "And now you're stuck here until you indulge my demands."

With fire in her now red eyes, Yang walked up to the hybrid king and said "So you kidnapped us, and you expect to get away with it?! I'll-"

"Calm yourself, Ms. Xiao Long," Noar said, quickly checking the name from the drone's side, "You'll give yourself a hernia. Allow us to explain."

With a quick switch of a remote hidden on a purple gauntlet previously connected to his robes, a window opened up in the room, revealing a grand coliseum. It looked much like the Vytal Festival's ring, as it was circular and looked very technological. The actual planet of Zestrum was revealed to RWBY at that point: a vast, orange desert surrounded a futuristic city, with cars that flew through the air. "See, the past Dahkat, Dopoka was...the greater of two evils, let me say," Noar said, "He took Credits out of the police force to fund our space center, which isn't a bad thing. But what that caused was crime skyrocketing. It's a bad sign when you wake up, go out to get a bloody newspaper, and you see people being raped and murdered close by. Fuckin' nightmare."

The very imagery of these reptilian humans suffering these crimes churned Ruby's stomach as Noar continued, "So, we decided to host a bit of catharsis. On certain nights, you go down to the pub, and watch two of us beat the shit out of each other. Except "that would have cost too much". So, me and Rahjat lopped his head off. So, as Dahkat, I finally did what I wanted."

"So," Weiss summed up, "You imprisoned us, took our weapons, and now you want us to kill people? You're sick!"

"That's...not particularly true," Noar said, closing the window back up, "You can go anywhere you like, even out to the pub if you need a beer, so you're not imprisoned. Your weapons were taken to make necessary adjustments. In your case, according to the drone, your ammo doesn't work outside of your home planet's atmosphere, so we're making new bullets and such. And this is most important: no one _has_ to die. People can, and it's always great fun to see heads roll, but mercy is perfectly allowed."

"You still brought us here against our will!" Yang shouted.

"You're still making us fight in some arena," Blake added, "I doubt you'll let us, you know, choose not to fight."

Sighing, Noar paused before saying, "Hence why I'm the lesser of the two evils."

"But why?" Ruby asked, stunned at what had transpired, "Why be evil to start off with? Why not be good and make sure _no one_ has to die?"

Whipping his head back towards Ruby, who took a step back from the sudden glare, Noar said "...Because life isn't fair like that, Ms. Rose. I'm doing the best I can. But bloodshed is in Jarot's mind right now. They want to see carnage after being exposed to pain for so long. Some of us were born in blood, and it's all we see. I didn't even want my old arena to have lethality. But when anger and pain drives you from birth, you hate the norm. I just hope you won't hate us for this…"

At that, Team RWBY calmed down, though their emotions still flared up at every word. "So," Weiss said, crossing her arms, "What now?"

"All sixteen contestants for this month of combat will be played on the monitor behind you, where the window was," said the engimatic Rahjat, finally speaking. Keeping the accent, his voice was cold and desolate, and deadpan in delivery. "After that, you can keep the monitor for intergalactic communication with Remnant."

Nodding, Weiss simply said "Alright…" and watched as they left, but not before said monitor appeared behind them. As it clicked on, it became clear that it was going to be a long month. And as the static snow tuned into the coverage of the event, the cheers of a thousand fans crying out in defiance only served to drive the point home: They're going to fight. Whether they like it or not.

* * *

 **(** A/N: **So, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! This story is written on my whims, meaning there is no long term plan for the conclusion or any plot points. While I am making it up as I go, I hope to do enough writing to make it fit in so it doesn't fall under any sort of beginner's trap or the like. Now then:**

 **Note 1: The Green Lantern elements come into play next chapter. I wanted to focus on RWBY first because I have more experience writing for those characters.**

 **Note 2: There will be romance, but between who, I'm not sure. It will be a RWBY ship, but that's only because the Green Lantern characters I want aren't the most compatible together.)**


	2. II: Rollcall

_Zestrum_

The clicking of the doorknob as it twisted back and forth roused the General, clad in a brown trenchcoat and a beige beret,from his thoughts, as he turned his gaze towards the barracks room of a particular combatant. "It's not going to work, Red Lantern," Rahjat said in a deadpan tone, feeling annoyance rise up in his throat as he turned away from the room. " _They're growing impatient. Just one more day._ " he concluded, right when he heard the voice of the man in the room.

"You fool!" bellowed the incredibly loud tones of Atrocitus, as he sat inside his special little cell. It resembled the surface of Ysmault, with walls made from red stone and a holographic display of the planet's sky above him. "You cannot hold me! I will tear your skull from your corpse, you feeble-"

A loud bang suddenly shook the door to Atrocitus's holding room, dust kicking up off the mix of technology and wood as it vibrated from the force of Rahjat's fist slamming into it. "That's _quite_ enough," Rahjat said, the emphasis placed upon a word that was suddenly laced with venom and vile hate. With an understanding of the tone, Atrocitus grumbled as he began pacing around his room.

"When I step over the corpses of my fallen enemies on this month, I will search for you, Rahjat!" Atrocitus yelled out as another act of angry defiance.

"Oh dear, and here I thought I could take some time off for my niece," Rahjat said, and with the deadpan tone fully in place, Atrocitus simply sat down and pondered strategies for his opponents. As if on cue, the holographic TV behind him clicked on in a burst of static. And with that, Atrocitus simply smiled.

* * *

Fist after fist slammed into the wood and titanium doors of Team RWBY's holding room with a fiery rage, each blow stopped by Yang's Aura before it could hurt her, which was something her concerned friends were relieved about.

"Yang!" Blake said, backing away from the blonde's relentless assault of the double doors, watching her partner slam into them.

"Just stop," Weiss said, "It's clearly not going to work, Yang, calm down."

At those words, Yang did slow down, lowering her fists as she turned towards her friends. "Then what are we supposed to do? They said they're letting us free, right? So why are we still in here?"

Just then, Noar's voice played through the room, coming from the roof in a crystal clear intercom. "Hello, future combatants," he said, calm and collected, "three things real quick. One, if I ever told you there were sixteen competitors, I was wrong. There are now only fourteen. After our latest four, I decided to try simply asking. But Oliver Queen and Barry Allen declined going to another planet to kick some ass."

"Well, yeah!" Ruby said.

"At least they actually tried," Blake summed up, sitting on the ground next to the Drink Synthesizer. "It doesn't make what he did to _us_ suddenly alright. But he's working on it."

As Yang simply muttered under her breath, Noar spoke again, "Two: If you think sitting on the ground is a bore, there is a control panel next to the holo-wall. So, if you want a bench, a bookshelf, and whatever games console you desire, it'll be right there. Remember: lesser of two evils."

In a sea of rose petals, Ruby went over to the keypad. It was a rectangular box with letters in both English and some other language, which Ruby guessed was the language of the Alik'Onir, as well as several illustrations. Pressing several of the letters and pictures, two sci-fi titanium benches with velvet cushions emerged, as well giving each girl a bed on either side of the room, which was growing larger. Pressing more buttons, a bookshelf, punching bag, and several musical instruments were also brought in.

"Those are for you guys," Ruby said.

Breathing heavily, Yang walked up and began beating the heavy bag as Weiss said "I...thank you, Ruby. That's really kind of you."

As Ruby nodded, Noar said his final piece, "And finally: in case you haven't noticed, you cannot leave yet. This is two-fold. One, we need to finish the trackers, so that we know you aren't trying to leave the planet. Not sure what'll happen if you try, but you can't. Maybe the citizens will crucify you or somethin', I don't know."

"That's a pleasant sight," Blake said, grabbing a book near the holo-wall, "Glad I could start seeing that. Thanks."

Ruby giggled at Blake's sarcastic remark, and turned to her partner. Weiss, however, seemed distracted and a bit unfocused. "Hey, Weiss? You okay?" she asked, which seemed to snap Weiss out of her distracted state. "Hmm?" she said, "Yeah, I-I'm fine." As the two walked towards a bench, Weiss was in thought, as she internally said " _What was that about? Blake talked, and then I just...blanked out._ "

"Second, and simplest of all," Noar continued, "you need to learn about your opposition. Don't want you to be blindsided. So, good luck!"

After finishing, the holo-wall lit up into static. Sitting on the benches, Team RWBY looked at the screen for a while, clearly anxious as to what what they would soon see. The sound of fireworks hitting their ears could heard as they could hear the screams of fans from the bloodworks.

After some time, the broadcast finally started. The buildup was much like a wrestling event, as cameras swooped over many screaming fans in the audience. All were Alik'Onir of various species, from snakes and chameleons, to turtles and frogs. They were all dressed fairly normally, with exotic colors of purple and scarlet amongst standard T-shirts and dresses. There was a metal song playing in the background, loud and heavy, gearing up the fans for what was sure to be a month of high-octane action.

The cameras then cut to a room high above the stage, where three people sat with headsets on. "Oh, hey, a commentary team?" Yang said, crossing her arms, "This oughta be good." Their appearances were actually a little unexpected. Rather than three Alik'Onir, two of them were of different species. On the left was a creature in a blue carapace, glowing white eyes shining through the azure natural armor. His fingers bore sharp claws, and the carapace ended in a pointed "helmet" that seemed poised to stab the sky. He also had a visible tail that would sometimes pop into girl in the middle was surprising, given that she was a human. She had red hair, which turned into purple further down in a gradient, leading down her shoulder in a pony-tail. Her eyes were bright orange and seemed to glow with a supernatural ilk. Her outfit was like that of a mechanic's uniform, with a blue jumpsuit with the name "Cat" written in cursive and a zipper that lead down. She was also holding a phone with a small keychain of a rabbit on it. The last one was an Alik'Onir, which appeared similar to Rahjat in that he was a snake with no snout. Rather than the natural lips he had, this one's mouth seemed to be stitched together. He wore a long black cloak, with what seemed to be a silver jumpsuit inside, with several test tubes and glasses attached on a belt.

"We're about to go live," the carapace alien said, tapping his clawed finger against the oak table. His voice was a baritone, deep and raspy, and his tone of speech was very direct.

"Yeah, yeah, but I'm doing something," the human girl said. Her voice was surprising in that it was robotic, yet sounded natural and emotive. Thinking back to her friend Penny on Remnant, Ruby nervously leaned back in her seat.

"Not sure cat videos on Angelus-Net are a good method of-oh shit, we're on," the Alik'Onir noted, suddenly looking up to see the red light on the edge of the camera. The other two looked up as the human put away her phone while clearing her throat.

"Well, I am not disappointed," Yang said, finally as calm as before they left, "Not half bad, already."

"Ahem, sorry about that," the human said.

"As you should be," the carapace alien said, "Welcome to the latest Zestrum Conflict; the bloodbath to end all bloodbaths. Or so Dahkat Noar says. I am your Praetorian commentator, Zafrax."

"I'm Catherine Adema, your color commentator," said the seemingly human girl, "I would call myself human, but…" At that moment, she gestured to her eyes and said "Robotic parasites, am I right?"

"Robotic what?!" Weiss said, looking at the TV with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I thought her eye color was natural," Blake said, "That's...not the most pleasant thought."

"You are most certainly right," the Alik'Onir said, "Qith are nasty little buggers. Anyway, I am Ouroborus. Necromancer extraordinaire and...third commentator. I guess."

"Did he-he just say "Necromancer"?" asked Ruby, who turned to her team with raised eyebrows, "As in, he has magic?"

"No way," Weiss said, "It must be a joke. Look at how he's dressed."

Unfortunately, Weiss was soon proven wrong, as at that moment, Ouroboros placed a skull on the table and waved his hand. A green flame enveloped the skull, before it began to laugh. With another wave, the flame turned red and the skull began screaming, which further shocked the team. Zafrax then leaned over and smashed the skull apart, which doused the flame.

"...Okay," Yang said after a small pause, "So they have magic _and_ better technology than Remnant? What the hell?"

"Well, Dust acts similar to magic," Blake said, "So maybe they just...skip the whole energy propellant thing?"

Turning back, they saw each commentator look into the camera. "Well, that was freaky," Catherine said, "Anyway, let's get into the point of today's broadcast."

"Indeed," Zafrax said, "The actual battles do not start until tomorrow, sorry to say. So, today's coverage is on the fourteen competitors in this month's Conflict. This is the third highest amount of competitors present so far."

"Usually, we get sixteen or eighteen," Ouroboros said, "But our Dahkat decided to be cordial. When he was declined, it was too late."

"Yeah," Catherine responded, "Wait, wasn't he gonna get Green Arrow and The Flash?" Ouroboros nodded, which made Catherine facepalm.

"Don't worry," Zafrax responded, "Our fourteen this month are as equally and utterly ridiculous as them."

Ouroboros turned to Zafrax with a disbelieving look in his eyes, and simply said "...You can make your bones into swords and shit."

At that moment, Zafrax popped out a blade of the same color as his armor from his finger, which was sharp at the tip, and said "Yes, but do you see a boxing glove on the end of this?"

Ouroboros bit his forked tongue as his shook his head no, while Ruby sat there, dumbfounded. "...Does that mean he puts a boxing glove on the arrow?"

"I guess," Yang said.

After a short pause, Ruby said, "...Then how does he kill Grimm?"

"Maybe...they don't have Grimm on his planet," Weiss said, "I mean, no one's mentioned them being here, so…"

"Huh." Ruby said, as she looked at the TV.

"Well, let's start with one of the most...culturally important competitors here," Catherine said, leaning back in her chair with a groan. "His name is...Maveto."

"Maveto? As in, the brother of Dahkat Dopoka?" Ouroboros questioned, obviously surprised.

"Wait...that's the guy Noar killed for the throne, right?" Weiss herself questioned, and there was a small pause in the room.

"...Oh shit." Yang said after the pause.

"The very same," Catherine said, "Now, the following footage isn't a memory taken from the Scanner. It's not even a fight, really. But we felt that...it described him well."

The camera cut to a timestamp that said "1 Hour, 56 Minutes Earlier", and showed a first person, handheld view of an Alik'Onir walking up to a holding cell door, like that of Team RWBY's door. What sounded like mad whispering could be heard from outside, and the cameraman wrapped his hand around the silver and black doorknob. Opening the door, Team RWBY saw just what Maveto's condition was. He was a green Snake Alik'Onir, with only one fang dangling out of his badly damaged and bleeding snout. He was wearing rags and there were chains around his wrists, though they weren't restraints, as they dangled from his hands. He was also laughing, while sat against the wall and staring at the door with wide, red eyes.

Before long, he began speaking, as he began, to the confusion of the team, reciting quotes from either a poem or a play, they couldn't tell. "Oh, Romeo. Romeo!" Maveto said, "Wherefore art thou, Romeo? Deny thy father, and refuse thy name. Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn, my love. And I'll no longer be a Capulet." His voice was flighty and high-pitched, perfect for the utterly mad look in his eyes.

"M-Mr. Maveto?" the cameraman said, "Isn't it time for the interview?"

Maveto stood up, the chains rattling as they were dragged across the ground, and walked towards the cameraman slowly. He began laughing again, before saying "Let's answer your question, with another question."

Getting a bad feeling down in her stomach, Ruby looked away as the cameraman said "Yeah, and what's-"

"WANNA BECOME AN AMPUTEE?!" Maveto suddenly shouted before grabbing onto the cameraman's arm and pulling on it. With an incredible display of strength, the cameraman's arm was suddenly ripped off his body, red blood spurting out of the stump as he began screaming and crying. Maveto then slammed the arm against the poor cameraman's head, which made him drop the camera on the ground. Landing lens first, Team RWBY could only listen as Maveto began beating him with his own arm, all while reciting more Shakespeare.

"I TAKE THEE AT THY WORD! CALL ME BUT LOVE, AND I'LL BE NEW BAPTIZED!" he shouted, pummeling the cameraman until a sickening crack could be heard. "Henceforth, I never will be Romeo." he said, his voice suddenly deep and calm.

As Team RWBY sat, too stunned to say anything, the camera feed cut back to the three commentators. While the two more alien commentators had what appeared to be tablet computers, purple in color, in their hands, Catherine had her head bowed with a clearly uncomfortable look. Ouroborus turned to her with a frown and said "You okay?"

"I-I wasn't expecting that," she responded, "I can handle the rest. I can t-tell what's going to happen."

"Okay," the Alik'Onir said in a quiet tone, "How about we just play the memories while playing the bio next time?"

Once Catherine nodded, Zafrax took the time to speak, giving Maveto's information. "Maveto's fighting style is as loose and unpredictable as his mental state. He attacks using two axes he calls "Dopoka" and "Micrah", respectively named after his brother and mother, both deceased. He has no other extended family, and is currently homeless."

"That's…" Weiss began, "really depressing. Seeing how far he's fallen. He's royalty!"

"Not anymore," was Blake's simple response.

The second combatant was on the way. The camera cut to what appeared to be a memory bank, where one was highlighted, and selected. The video file of the memory played back a scene of a viscious battle. A humanoid alien was shown firing a plasma rifle at several furry humanoids in loincloths, with mandibles visible instead of a jaw. The alien in question was a cyborg, with half of its body being robotic, with shades of crimson leading down on a gradient from chrome as it lead down to its wrist and ankle. Half of its head was also robotic, being pure chrome. The organic half was green and scaly, with the creature wearing an armor set that looked like strong metal, and the creature also had a yellow beak, with yellow, human-like eyes with slitted pupils.

As the picture paused and shrunk down to the upper left of the commentator's screen, Ouroborus began giving information. "Z-Coatal," he began, "is our next competitor. He is part of the Kalekto race, which are full of cyborgs. He is a member of the Carcerass caste, which transates to "Soldier" in several languages."

"His fighting style is strategic and full of precision, as missing is the difference between life and death," Zafrax said, "He wields a plasma rifle, known as the Theta-Lambda Mark 63. It has a sixty shot magazine with rounds that can light targets on fire."

A loud _squee_ soon hit the ears of the team, who turned to see Ruby curled up into a ball of excitement, with an absolutely huge smile on her face. "That," she yelled, "is that coolest thing, ever! Imagine if Crescent Rose had one of those! I could shoot a Grimm, light him on fire, then kick him into another Grimm!"

"Can't you already do that with Dust?" Weiss asked, crossing her arms slightly.

"Yeah, but Dust isn't a laser beam!" Ruby protested.

"She has a point," Yang said, thinking. After a second, she said, "Maybe, when we leave, I can steal one for you, sis."

"Really?" Ruby asked, and with a quick nod and a smile from her sister, she turned back to the TV, happy at the circumstance.

The next memory loaded up, and showed a human in the middle of a town. The town was burning and several buildings were on fire, yet the human didn't falter. He was wearing a skintight green outfit with what seemed to be a lantern on the chest, as well as a green mask that hid his eyes. He had black hair and a determined look on his face. The clip was of him dodging yellow blasts of energy. The picture froze and moved right as he created a wall to block another shot, letting the commentators explain him.

"That was Kyle Rayner," Catherine said, "Or as the people of the galaxy call him, The Green Lantern. Living in the Earth city of Los Angeles, he is a graphic artist by day who dons the Green Power Ring to stop intergalactic evil."

"He sounds awesome!" Ruby commented.

"It's nice to see a hero for a change," Yang noted, before raising an eyebrow. "Not bad lookin', either."

As Ruby groaned at hearing that, Blake simply said "Focus."

"Kyle's Green Ring is powered by the Green Light of Willpower," Ouroborus said, "See, all Lantern Corps, and their power rings, are powered by colors of the emotional spectrum. For example, Indigo is Compassion, and owned by the Indigo Tribe. With his Power Ring, Green Lantern can create energy constructs for both assault and defense."

"That's a...very unique power," Weiss said, "And something I've never even heard of. That seems like a strange power-set."

"Well, yeah," Ruby said, "It's from out in space! We can't know everything."

"...Good point," Weiss responded.

The next memory played, and only way it could be described was odd. The memory showed a small creature, with orange fur and tusks like that of a boar. It wore an orange variant of Kyle Rayner's costume, though the emblem for his corp was on his shoulder, and resembled a shimmering ring. He was hugging an Orange Power Battery to his chest, while surrounded by the spoils of his many victories.

"That is Agent Orange, also known as Larfleeze," Zafrax said, "He is the only current wielder of the Orange Light of Avarice, and is the leader of the Orange Lantern Corps. The other members of the Corps _are_ his ability."

"Yep!" Catherine excitedly cried, "See, his Power Ring's constructs are actually apparitions of the many people he's slaughtered in a greed-fueled attempt to keep his perfect treasure, the Orange Power Battery, with him."

Team RWBY's collective expression was that of shock, until eventually, Blake said "T-That's sick! That's sick and twisted! What the hell?"

"I want to draw attention to his oath," Ouroborus said, "See, all Lantern Corps have an Oath for when they're charging up their batteries. For example, " _In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship Evil's might, beware my power, Green Lantern's light_ " for the Green Lantern Corps. Larfleeze's is " _What's mine is mine and mine and mine, and mine and mine and mine! NOT YOURS!_ "

At that moment, they couldn't even resist a chuckle as they heard the ridiculous oath of the Orange Lanterns. "R-Really?" Yang asked behind her giggling.

"Apparently." Blake said.

"He still sounds like an abhorrent monster," Weiss noted, "But I cannot take that oath seriously. This "Agent Orange" sounds ridiculous!"

The next memory showed up, and before anyone could see who's next, Weiss said "How are they even doing this? These are memories, if what Catherine said is true. So, how are they-"

"Weiss, they're aliens that are also human-reptiles with magic powers," Ruby said, "They're just that cool!"

"But...oh, whatever," was the heiress's response as the memory played. It seemed to be a bustling metropolis on a very Earth-like planet, with an azure sky and fluffy white clouds over flying cars. A four armed, pointy eared humanoid with grey skin entered into frame as he walked down the street in a blue jumpsuit. In two hands was a single spear, where one end sparked with electricity and the other had a sharp blade. He also had a prehensile tail, that whipped behind him as he walked.

"Not very special, but it peaks attention," Zafrax said, "That is Na-Jal, a Zerikan member of the intergalactic military force, Zanzibar Fifteen. Primarily a peacekeeping unit, Zanzibar Fifteen famously stopped the Siege of Taltraxis VI some fifty years ago."

"Whoa. That's pretty cool!" Ruby said.

"You're saying that about everything, sis," Yang said. "Though...I guess all of it is kinda cool."

"Exactly," Ruby said, smiling.

"Na-Jal's primary weapon is the Bellok, a spear-stunstick combo that doubles as lethal force and a safe method of dispatching ne'er-do-wells." Catherine said.

"Well, good," Yang said, "Just going around and killing everyone probably doesn't look good on your record."

The next memory loaded, showing a man clutching his chest with a red ring on his finger, surrounded by several aliens with a giant Blue Power Battery behind him. He was perfectly human, with brown hair, brown eyes, and dangerously pale skin. He was wearing a black shirt over a black, leather trenchcoat, and baggy pants.

"Xander Cryn," Ouroborus said, "That one is a dude to watch out for. He's a human, technically; he's from the planet Zedoura, which is fifty-six percent scorching hot sun, to the point where you'll melt after a few hours."

"That doesn't sound good," Weiss said, before pausing to think, "...Hold on, is that even possible? Maybe, under the right circumstances, it can, but it doesn't sound right."

"Well, it is possible. I mean, we can see the guy, right?" Yang said, "Question is, what has to happen to, y'know, cause that?"

"Xander is a former member of the Red Lantern Corps, who use the red light of Rage," Zafrax said, "While normally incapable of using constructs, Xander had his sanity restored by the Blue Lantern Corps. They also gave him the capability to remove the ring, as normally, Red Lanterns die when their ring is removed."

"Wait, what?" Ruby asked, "That sounds like a terrible power!"

"Well, rage is a very powerful emotion," Blake said, "I mean, look at your sister."

"Yeah...hey!" said blonde Huntress protested.

Speaking of Red Lanterns, the next memory played. It showed a grisly sight, as corpses upon corpses littered the ground in a large blood puddle. A large figure entered the frame, in a red Lantern Corps uniform, with the insignia of what appeared to be a helmet. The figure was very large and imposing, with a red skinned head that bore a sadistic grin. A red blade emerged from his Red Power Ring, sharp and vibrant as it shone in his hand.

"Atrocitus," Catherine introduced, "He is the leader of the Red Lantern Corps, and an all around murderous asshole. He wasn't always like that, though. A former psychologist, he was one of the few survivors of the Massacre of Sector 666, and he, of course, wields the power of Rage."

"While intelligent enough to both speak and create constructs," Zafrax explained, "He has a very violent streak, and is held back by the ring. In addition, as all Red Lanterns do, he is able to spit to spit his blood at people, as his blood was replaced with a napalm-like substance."

"Whoa!" Yang said, "Where can I get one of those?"

"From what they say," Weiss said, "You'll die if you take it off, and it doesn't seem like they _all_ keep their intelligence."

"...Oh...well, uh...nevermind, then," Yang said.

The next memory showed a yellow power ring in a purple hand, which was then swiftly placed on a finger. Raising up, it showed a purple colored man with a rather large head in a yellow Lantern Corps uniform, his insignia looking similar to the Green Lantern logo save for extra detailing. As he showed his ring to the camera, the image of a large, yellow creature filled the space behind him.

"Thaal Sinsestro, or just Sinestro," Zafrax said, "A former Green Lantern, Sinestro followed a different moral code, and thus started his own Corps, the Sinestro Corps, based around the Yellow Light of Fear."

"He sounds like a narcissistic dick, yeah," Catherine said, "But his power is very strong. His constructs are that of his targets' fears and worries. Thus, his strength is psychological."

Upon hearing that, each member of Team RWBY shuddered slightly, as every past anxiety and fear seemed to emerge in one fell swoop, as though Sinestro was in the room and already using the power of Fear.

"The Sinestro Corps and the Green Lantern Corps are mortal enemies," Ouroborus noted, "So if the two meet, it should be interesting to see what happens."

The next memory hit the airwaves, and showed another scene of terror. It showed a man, laying on the ground and cowering with his arms raised in surrender, with rebar stabbed through his left leg. Before he could flee, a figure in a trenchcoat slowly walked out from the shadows and flames, with four arms visible. On each one was a gauntlet, as well as on his notably still tail. As he pointed a gauntlet at the man, the memory stopped right as he fired, the man's final scream still hitting as it did. Ruby, who sat there with a hand over her eyes, cringed at the sound.

"His name is Pentakill," Zafrax said in a quiet tone. "A Zerikan bounty hunter operating of Dahir, Pentakill specializes in, as the name suggests, executing targets with brutal precision. To my knowledge, he has never taken a target in alive."

"Oh my God," Blake whispered, uncomfortable with the methods he seems to use.

"As the clip showed, his primary weapons are his Crosha-5 Flamethrowers," Ouroborus said, "He has four for each arm, plus a fifth affixed to his tail. Each one is actually color coded; the limbs on his left shoot blue flame, his right arms are green flame, and the tail is standard red fire. I guess he likes his theatrics."

"I-I can't bear to imagine…" Weiss says, "The Grimm are one thing...but to burn a human alive? It's sickening."

"I g-guess it's a good thing everyone I fight has an Aura, then," Yang said, "Otherwise…"

As discomfort set in, the next memory, and the final one before Team RWBY was introduced to a whole planet, played. It showed a Praetorian, like Zafrax, only his armor was black and the tip of his natural helmet was different, pointing upwards like a spike of his own. His eyes were glowing red, and his tail was spiked, as were his hand-like feet. The Praetorian was shown walking towards a man who was chained against the wall in cuffs. When he got close, the man looked up, and watched as The Praetorian slid blades out of his fingers, which was when the clip ended.

"Atraxis the Godkiller," Catherine said, slightly nervous, "In case you are from a planet where this never happens, there are some beings in this galaxy imbued with a magical or genetic healing factor that keeps them alive through any injury."

"Those people are called Immortal, because that's what they are," Ouroboros said, "Only one element consistently nullifies this healing factor; Crystal Ebony, which is a magical crystal that's purple in color."

"His weapons, which are those of all Praetorian," Zafrax continued, "are his bones. We can turn our bones into blades, shields, and other melee weaponry. Through genetic experimentation, his bones are made out of Crystal Ebony. In other words, he can kill any Immortal he sees."

Team RWBY sat there, letting this sink in. Ruby finally said, "Oh my God, that's so strange...it makes me wonder just how much we're missing."

"Yeah," Yang replied, "I mean, magic, aliens, and Immortals? It's amazing just what's out here."

"It's certainly interesting," Blake said, her voice calm and neutral, "I mean, this is a lot to take in, and it might not even matter when we get back to Beacon…"

"But seeing all these amazing things firsthand?" Weiss finished, "It's breathtaking."

Finally, a familiar memory played out, as it showed Ruby flying through the air on Crescent Rose, slashing through armorless Beowolves like paper in a snowy wasteland. "Oh my God! Guys, that's me!" the reaper shouted, clutching onto her partner in an embrace.

"Ah! Yes, Ruby, I can tell," said partner said, as she pushed Ruby back to the bench.

"Well, now, this is a first. Meet young Ruby Rose!" Catherine said, excited to see new blood. "She's from the planet Remnant, which is actually a secluded little rock, if I remember correctly."

"They aren't even spacefaring," Zafrax noted, "Their energy source, Dust, doesn't work outside of the planet's atmosphere. Which is an interesting development. Ruby is an excitable young student at Beacon, a school designed for hunting the Creatures of Grimm."

"...Is that _supposed_ to have two Ms?" Ouroboros said.

"Apparently," Zafrax responded, before saying "Her fighting style is very unique. People on Remnant have a special ability known as a Semblance. Hers is great speed, which aids her fighting style. Using the custom weapon Crescent Rose, which is a combination scythe and 50. BMG Sniper Rifle, she can decimate opponents from far away, then cut them down with great ease."

"Okay, can the award for "Most Badass Weapon" go to this teen?" Catherine quipped.

"Oh God, guys, she called Cressie cool!" Ruby said

"Technically, she called Crescent Rose a badass weapon," Yang pointed out.

"Yeah, but even at fifteen, it sounds kinda weird to just say," Ruby replied.

"Hey, if it makes you comfortable, sis," Yang said, turning back to the TV.

The next memory emerged, showing Weiss as she battled the large knight. Her grace and technique was on display to a whole planet, which felt humbling to the alabaster haired heiress.

"Wow, Weiss, when did this happen?" Ruby asked.

"A week or two before I left for Beacon," Weiss answered.

"So, even before coming to Beacon, you could hold your own against something this big?" Blake asked. "You're pretty good, Weiss."

The complement sent a rush of heat up to Weiss's cheeks, which served to confuse her. " _What is with me, today?_ "

"This young woman is Weiss Schnee," Ouroboros said, "Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, which is a large energy conglomerate. She became a Huntress to get away from her abusive, overbearing jackass father."

"Hey!" Weiss protested, only to say "You...aren't exactly wrong…"

"Weiss," Yang said, "I'm sorry to hear about that. Are you okay?"

Weiss nodded, and said "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm not living there right now. And with you guys? I'm quite happy."

"Weiss fights with grace and poise in her technique," Zafrax said, "With her weapon known as Myrtenaster, which is a rapier with a revolver cylinder of various Dust types, she can turn the tide with her Semblance of Glyphs...and more."

"Perhaps…" Weiss said, "Wait, how am I going to use Myrtenaster without Dust?"

"Let's just hope what they're substituting works," Ruby points out, "I love Cressie's rounds when they do more than just be a boring little bullet."

Another memory played out, showing Blake and Adam's assault on the SDC train some six months ago. As soon as she saw the trademark mask, a feeling of anxiety washed over her. Yang, seeing what was wrong, leaned back and hugged her friend, wrapping her arms around her in security.

"This is Blake Belladonna," Catherine said, "A Faunus Huntress from Remnant, Blake was a former member of activism group-turned-terrorist cell, The White Fang."

"Um, Blake?" Yang said, "They just said-"

"I know," Blake whispered, "I don't know if it will be alright, but given who the populace is, they might be more accepting."

"Blake's Semblance is Shadow Clones; she is capable of leaving afterimages that can be altered with Dust," Ouroboros said, "Her weapon is Gambol Shroud, which is a sword combined with a pistol. Surprisingly, the hilt is a blade in of itself, which is kinda cool."

Ignoring the narration, Yang nodded as she turned back to see her own memory come on. She smiled as she rewatched her first little assault on Junior's bar, including a smug grin as she watched Junior sail off before they could "kiss and make up".

"Yikes, look at this buxom blonde," Catherine said, "Kinda top heavy, but it doesn't seem to slow her down. This is Yang Xiao Long, a Huntress of Team RWBY who specializes in beating the absolute fuck out of anything in her path."

As she sat on the bench with a beaming smile, Yang payed attention as Zafrax went over her strategy and weaponry. "Her weapons are Ember Celica, which are twin shotgun gauntlets. Her Semblance is Rage, or the capability of gaining more power the angrier she gets, and the more punishment she takes. She's dangerous when she's weakened."

"Damn straight!" Yang proudly yelled out. Looking at her left hand, she said "I could wear a Red Ring.."

"You could die," Weiss reminded her.

"Well, those are our competitors," Ouroboros said, "Let's move onto the bracket!" Moving towards a computer, the camera showed that the monitor had a tournament bracket template set up.

"Oh, cool," Yang said, "So, who's ass am I kicking?"

The names were shuffled around until the final bracket was formed. Aside from Na-Jal and Sinestro, who were placed in the second round, the first round's fights were as follows: Z-Coatal vs. Ruby, Blake vs. Maveto, Atraxis vs. Pentakill, Atrocitus vs. Xander, Green Lantern vs. Agent Orange, and Yang vs. Weiss.

Upon seeing her place in the bracket, Yang sheepishly laughed and said "I'll, uh, go easier on you." Which may have been the result of a magnificent death glare from the heiress.

"So, I get to fight the crazy one?" Blake said, "Well, that should be interesting."

"And I fight the guy with the plasma gun!" Ruby said, "That should be fun."

"Anyway," Weiss interrupts, "What time is it?"

The sky outside was dark, and so Blake had said "Pretty late."

"Then perhaps," Weiss said, "We should go to bed. We have a long day tomorrow, and we've had a long day today."

"Yeah," Ruby said, pausing to yawn, "Let's go to sleep."

And so, the Team laid down and closed their eyes, the room automatically dimming the lights as they went to sleep. And as night fell, the thoughts of the battles awaiting them didn't keep them awake for too long.


	3. III: Preliminary Discussion

_Zestrum, The Present Day_

As the shimmering green ball bounced against the wall of the cell, Kyle Rayner breathed out a sigh as boredom took over his thoughts. " _Ah, well,_ " he thought, " _Still beats having to tackle Sinestro's latest plot. I mean, he's here, but that shouldn't change mu-_ "

His thoughts were soon interrupted by a knock at the door of his cell, which roused him from his boredom induced activity. Rising up from his bed, he walked over to the wooden door, adorned with steel hinges and a silver handle. Gripping it, he pulled the door back to see a member of the Alik'Onir standing before him, a box containing several steel bracelets with blinking lights colored in shades of red and purple in her hands. She looked similar to General Rahjat; a brown scaled, snake-like humanoid with a pair of lips instead of a snout, with a King Cobra's hood folded up in the back of her neck. She was wearing a leather shirt of a brown coloration, with beige pants and no shoes, exposing small, clawed toes, like that of a skink. Her fangs were small, and her human-like brown eyes were slightly squinted. Like the rest of her kind, though unlike the reptiles they were spawned from, she blinked once as she began to stutter out a greeting. "I-I um-" she stuttered, her eyes widening in nervousness as her hands shake, "I-I got the t-tracers. Y-You know? Um, I...I'm so sorry, it's-"

"Hey, it's alright," Kyle assured her, "Would it help if you told me your name?"

The female Alik'Onir muttered something under her breath, looking away with her eyes filled with trepidation. "Could you, uh, repeat that?" Kyle responded, to which the girl gulped under her breath.

"I-...I'm Shreika," the girl said, holding the box out to Kyle Rayner. "These are...are for your exploration, s-sir."

"Right, right, the house arrest sensors," Kyle stated, reaching out and taking one of the blinking bracelets. "Thanks, Shreika."

At the sound of her name being said, Shreika squeaked and nodded, before shuffling off down the hall. After watching for a second, Kyle slipped the bracelet onto his wrist and walked out of the cell-room, the sensor letting out a slight chirp as his feet hit the solid ground of the hall. The hallway was a large, intimidating stone walkway that tapered off in different directions on Kyle's different sides. After a second, Shreika suddenly walked back towards Kyle, quietly saying "By the way, the-erm, the Dahkat is about to announce this...uh, e-everyone's needed a-at this l-little meeting room. It's down t-the hall I went down, t-to the left."

Nodding, Kyle immediately began walking there, the Green Lantern Ring glowing like the lights on his Sensor as he took the small trip on, one step at a time.

* * *

" _Mirror...tell me something...Tell me who's the loneliest of all…_ "

The soft melody echoing through the room struck a chord within Blake's sleeping mind, her hands gripping the sheets of her bed as the foreign sound entered her ears. Her amber eyes fluttered open, and were set upon by a truly lovely image. Weiss was sitting down on a bench, her back facing Blake, with her fingers dancing along the keys of a piano that Ruby had brought in the previous day. As the chords continued playing, Blake was silent as the girl in front of her began singing once again. "Mirror, tell me something. Tell me who's the loneliest of all?" she sang, quietly pouring her heart out in the song as Blake quietly watched on.

Listening to the soft voice of her teammate spurred her heart to beat faster, Blake's cheeks glowing a soft red as she continued to listen. Breathing a soft sigh, she slowly rose up to sit on the bed, listening intently. The piano sped up by a small bit, as Weiss sang "Fear of what's inside me. Tell me, can a heart be turned to stone?" At this point, the piano was fast and hard, the song causing Ruby and Yang to shift in the beds they were given. After hearing the shifting of the sheets, Weiss instinctively stopped, blushing as she calmed down and staying careful to stay quiet as the two drifted back to sleep.

Making her way to her feet with precision and silence, as was known of her, Blake stood up and softly walked towards Weiss. Her heart hammered in her chest, yet she kept her breath steady. "Weiss?" she inquired, which provoked an immediate reaction in the heiress to close the piano. She whipped her head around to look at Blake, a blush visible on her cheeks as she stared into Blake's amber eyes.

"Oh, Blake," Weiss said, her tone indicating how flustered she was. "I...didn't notice you were awake."

" _She's cute when she's nervous,_ " Blake thought, before shaking her head. She responded with "You woke me up. I didn't know you played piano."

Weiss's fingers glided across across the oak door of the piano absentmindedly, her touch just as light as a feather. "My... _father_ made me learn because he thought it would make me more appealing to any potential suitors," she said, anger revealing itself in her voice as she emphasized her father. "It was the best thing he ever did for me, believe it or not."

"It's beautiful," Blake noted. In a second, Weiss's blush grew hotter, lighting her face up in a crimson glow. "Why don't you play more often? I mean, there _is_ a piano in the Artistic Expression class's room."

"Because I prefer to be alone when I play," Weiss explained. "Even in that room, there's always someone else painting, or Coco is sketching out fashion ideas, or people are just playing other instruments in general."

Blake approached the bench, Weiss moving over to let the studious girl sit next to her. "I get it," Blake said, "I always like to just sit and read while alone. I just like the quiet of it."

"I know! That's why I play alone," Weiss enthuzed, a smile now on her face as she clasped her hands together. "I _hate_ it when I'm trying to hammer out a melody I think of, and I hear someone humming while they draw or write. It's so distracting."

"You wanna talk about distractions?" Blake asked, "Just try to sit down and read while Yang and Ruby are playing video games. Hell, just try it when Yang's talking to her friends on her Scroll."

Weiss groaned as she glanced over to Yang. "I've heard enough of the latter, thank you very much," she replied, "I swear, it's almost like a train rolling by with her. God knows how her friends are, then."

Both Blake and Weiss than chuckled, the embarrassment of the situation washing over as it's replaced with mirth. As it died down, Blake's heart continued to beat fast, as though the reasoning for it was still close by. And close it was, as Weiss cleared her throat and stood up. "As fun as that was," Weiss said, "We have a long day. I mean, the whole "alien planet" situation can't have only slipped my mind, right?"

Blake stood up after her, politely moving the bench back towards the piano. "Well, no, but it's just...nice to get distracted sometimes, right?"

"Right," Weiss responded, "I mean, it's not like we're fighting right this second, too, so-"

She was interrupted by a timid knock on the door, which was still too quiet to awaken the Rose-Xiao Long sisters from their sisters. Without a moment's hesitation, Weiss walked over to the door and opened it, revealing a timid, female Alik'Onir carrying a cardboard box around. Inside were five bracelets with several glowing lights. "H-Hi," the Alik'Onir said, "I h-have your t-tracers. S-So you can walk a-around?"

"Finally," Weiss said, grabbing a tracer and quickly attaching it to her left wrist. "Being just cooped up in here was unbearable."

"We were here for a night at the most," Blake mused in her usual, deadpan tone of voice.

Weiss huffed and said "You know what I meant! If it was any longer, I don't think I could've taken it."

Rolling her eyes slightly, Blake walked over and grabbed a tracer. She quickly attached it, inspecting the device as it blinked and quietly hummed.

"A-Also," Shreika stammered out, "Dahkat Noar i-is h-hosting a meeting with a-all the competitors. I-It's in the r-room down the hall t-to my left. I-It's the s-silver one o-on the right."

"Alright," Weiss said, "Thank you, Miss…?"

"S-Shreika, ma'am." Shreika responded, wringing her hands together in a timid display of anxiety. " _She kind of reminds me of Velvet,_ " Blake mused, being reminded of her fellow Faunus by her mannerisms.

"Shreika..alright. Thank you." Weiss said, while also inspecting her tracer. Nodding, Shreika turned on her heel and ran off, possibly to reach the last competitor, whoever they were.

Turning back, Blake walked towards Yang's bed, with Weiss walking to Ruby's at around the same time. Blake took hold of her partner's arm and likely shook her, which didn't produce many results due to Yang's heavy sleeping. Weiss was much more successful, however; Ruby stirred and slowly opened her eyes, quickly becoming accustomed to the lighting of the cell. "Hmm, huh?" Ruby groggily said, before Weiss presented her tracer.

As Ruby blinked, trying to clear her vision up from her slumber, Weiss said "Here. Attach this to your wrist. This is what'll let us get out." With that information, Ruby wasted no time in attaching it to her wrist, though she was slower due to just waking up.

With a yawn and a stretch, Ruby grabbed her pillow and reared back. "Hey, Yang?" she called out, which was all the warning Blake had to get out of the way before the pillow suddenly flew out. It smacked Yang in the face, sending her sprawling out of bed.

"What the hell?" Yang said, immediately woken up by her sister's attack. "Ruby, come on!'

"You wouldn't wake up otherwise!" Ruby said.

Yang opened her mouth to retort, but before long, she was lost in thought. Finally, she said "Good point, Ruby. Good point."

It was then that Blake held up the blinking and humming tracer, Yang's eyebrow raising in confusion at the object. "It's a bracelet. It's supposed to track us," Blake said, "We're basically free to go."

Without a second wasted, Yang grabbed it and cuffed it around her wrist. With the sisters awake, Weiss cleared her throat and said "And by the way, Noar is hosting a meeting in this room down the hall, so hurry up and come on."

Nodding, Ruby stood from her bed as Yang walked away from hers. As a team, the four left the cell and caught a glimpse of the halls outside. It was made from stone, like the halls of an old castle, and it was large enough to carry an intimidating image.

"So, silver door right next to ours, right?" Blake asked, making sure to catch Ruby and Yang up to speed.

Weiss nodded and walked towards the door, thankful the distance was so short. "Gee, it's a wonder they didn't wake us up being _that_ close." Yang said, smirking with her arms crossed.

"It's a wonder throwing a pillow at you woke you up," Blake snarked, also right next to the door.

"Nah, it's always worked for us," Ruby said, "Whenever we don't wake up, we tend to just start throwing pillows. It's fun!"

"It sounds like a mess," Weiss said, before gripping the bar that served as the doorknob, opening the way to the meeting area. The first impression was that it resembled the screening of some new film: chairs and other assorted seats (including an overturned barstool, oddly enough) were lined up in front of a raised platform, which itself had three seats in the back. There was a table behind all the chairs, with refreshments on the table. In addition to very human foods such as a platter with shrimp and several soda bottles, there were also dishes marked by species. In particular, two Alik'Onir dishes were apparently a plate full of leaves and grass, and a cage where several live mice squeaked in fear as they rattled around. Two guardsmen carrying what looked to be plasma rifles also stood by the stage, their large, exposed eyes and hanging tongue revealing them as some sort of frog-hybrid.

Aside from the insane Maveto and a few other assorted competitors who either were late or decided to be defiant by simply not arriving, all the competitors were also in the room in various positions. In one corner just left of the table was Z-Coatal, who was inspecting a glowing blue energy cell with his shimmering red robotic eye. Apparently satisfied, he popped it back into his rifle and racked the bolt back, quickly slinging it over his shoulder when he got a sidelong glare from the frog footsoldiers. At the actual table, Kyle Rayner was drinking some of the punch with Na-Jal, and were having a conversation that, from what Blake could hear, was about their exploits.

"So," Na-Jal said, his tone calm and collected, "I punched the lights out of one guard, but the target just kept running, so I had my partner Mayro chase him down. Popped a tracker on him, but he jumped his FTL and left for another sector."

Kyle sighed, drinking some of the red beverage in his cup, before saying "Shame. Well, if I'm ever near the sector, maybe I can give a look? I mean, what's the guy's name, anyway?"

"Mixamon Scarlamoses," Na-Jal replied, "He's human, so he'll stick out like a sore thumb. Thanks for the help, Lantern."

"Any time man. Any time," was Kyle's reply as the Team's eye kept wandering.

In the other corner, hiding in the shadows and watching the rest was the hunter known as Atraxis. He was inspecting the competition with a steady gait, the sharpened knife of one of his bones sliding in and out of his finger unconsciously as he contemplated what seemed to be strategies.

Before they could see anyone else, Ruby spoke up. "Well, just standing here is boring. I'm gonna grab a drink."

"Right behind you, sis," Yang replied, already making her way to the table. Kyle turned and gave a little wave to the group.

"Oh, hey," Kyle said, "You must be the girls from that "Remnant" planet. Sorry, I don't think the Green Lantern Corps have really paid attention to your sector."

Ruby, who was close behind Yang, replied with "That's fine. We have enough to deal with without an alien coming down and just blasting people. Would be cool, though."

"Eh, not cool when you're the one getting shot at, sadly," Kyle responded, taking a sip from his cup in pause. "Oh, speaking of, Yang, was it?" he asked.

"Yep!" Yang said, nodding with a thumbs up directed at the Green Lantern.

"Okay, then, Yang, what the hell was that barfight?" Kyle asked, eyebrow raised as his question was put forth. "I mean, from what they said, you like a good fight, but you don't seem like the kind of girl to just start that. At least, from where I'm standing."

"Long story," Yang replied, grabbing a cup and cracking open one of the two-liter soda bottles. "And they didn't even show the part where I almost crushed his nuts like grapes."

Ruby sighed in exasperation, standing next to Yang with a cup in her hand, waiting her turn. "Yang, why did you do that?"

"Slightly shorter long story," was Yang's simple reply as she popped a couple ice cubes into her cola.

Kyle laughed slightly, while also awkwardly crossing his legs. "Well, I've, uh...got some time."

Blake's listening in on the conversation was interrupted by Weiss saying "We should go sit down. Ruby's right, just standing here is boring. And we might be blocking the way for someone else."

Nodding, Blake made her way over to a chair, quickly sitting in it as she looked over the rest of the competitors. The first one she found was Weiss, who stepped in her line of sight as she got on the chair next to Blake. "I do have to wonder what this is all about about," Weiss says, looking up to the stage with a steady gaze. "Saying it's just "a meeting" is a mite too vague."

"Must be some...I don't know, preliminary thing?" Blake hypothisized, her eyes still glancing around the room. At the end of the row was the creature known as Larfleeze was sitting as far from everyone else as he possibly could in the chair. He was clutching what looked like an orange lantern in his arms, hugging it and shying away from others.

Weiss turned to him and, after a moment of silence, said "Um...are you okay?"

"STAY BACK!" Larfleeze replied, growling at her and leaning further back, just barely avoiding slamming into the ground. "It's mine! IT'S ALL MINE! DON'T TOUCH IT!"

Weiss leaned away from the creature and said "Um, Blake?"

"Yeah?" Blake offhandedly replied. A brief glance showed that despite being turned towards her, Weiss's eyes were shying away from her friend.

"This situation," Weiss said, pausing to breath slowly in, "It's freaking me out."

Blake nodded and turned to look at her. Sucking in a breath, she said "That's understandable. I mean, aliens? That's not something-"

Weiss looked up to Blake and, in a hushed tone, whispered "That's not what I mean!" After a second, she sat up straighter and quietly said "I mean, first of all: How are they speaking our language? I-I mean, the Alik'Onir, or whatever Noar said, clearly do. The keypads have writing for it."

"Well," Blake thought aloud, "maybe they just have a method for translating it?" At that, Weiss finally looked Blake in the eye, watching her continue. "I mean, they have better technology, and... _something_ that seems like magic-"

"But that's just it!" Weiss exclaimed, still trying to avoid disturbing anyone. "Not only do they have technological prowess Remnant does not possess, they also have straight up magical abilities! No Dust, no fairy tale wizards, just straight up magic!" After her protestation, she sighed under her breath and finished her thought with "We can't exactly compete with that."

As Blake nodded and continued speaking, the discussion at the table was still going full throttle. Kyle Rayner held out his hands and attempted to clarify the story. "So, okay, you kicked this chick _in the face?_ " he asked, regaled with the context of Yang's video package.

"Hell yeah!" Yang exclaimed, gesturing her hands around as she continued "So after I punted...uh, what was her name, sis?"

Audibly thinking with several "Um"s and "Ah"s, Ruby eventually said "Mil...Militia?"

"Militia? That's a name?" Kyle asked. "Well, uh, certainly unique. At least it's a word I can actually pronounce comfortably."

Yang thought for a second more, chiming in with "Yeah, it was short for something, though," before eventually snapping her fingers. "No, no, that was the other one! Her name was Melanie."

Kyle nodded and took a sip of punch from his cup. "Right, right. So what happened after that? You didn't just walk out of there, did ya?"

Shaking her head with a grin, Yang said "Nope! Junior came back in with this bat-"

Chiming in, Ruby enthusiastically exclaimed "It was also a rocket launcher!"

"Yep, and then he-" Yang continued, before being interrupted again, this time by the Green Lantern she was telling the story to.

"Sorry, sorry, but," Kyle interrupted, trailing off slightly. "But, uh...is every weapon on Remnant a hybrid?"

Scratching her head, Ruby thought about the question before saying "...I hope so! Weapons are disappointing when they're just, like, a gun. Swords? Cool. Axes? Cool. But if all it does is shoot things, it's not very interesting."

"Well, damn," Kyle said, impressed. "Sounds like my kind of place. Only, all my stuff's in green, so…"

Irritated at two interruptions, Yang said "Great! Cool! Colors! Can I please just finish before something else comes up?"

It took three seconds. In the entire time, Ruby swore she could hear the ticking of a clock. After those three seconds, Kyle looked behind Yang and said "Um...something came up."

Yang sighed and grit her teeth to repress her annoyance and irritation as she turned around. When she saw what was at the door, however, that faded away into horror. Standing upright in chains with a gag or muzzle placed around his snout, Maveto was practically having a seizure as he shakingly walked into the room. He was accompanied by two guards, their full armor set hiding both gender and species from the group. In person, Yang could smell blood and rotting flesh around him as he walked in, and she could see the empty look in his blood red eyes as he stared right into hers. The guards closed the door behind them and shed the gag off of him, only to hear him immediately begin yelling. "Traitors!" he shouted, right in Yang's face. "THE LOT OF YOU! Cooperating with the fucking red-blooded _traitor_ who murdered my dear brother!"

Ruby stepped in front of him and said "Hey, it's not like we have a choice, here!"

Lowering his gaze to leer at Ruby's features, he leaned down and said in his high-pitched, manic voice "You have plenty of choices, little one. For one, I have the choice of sitting as some red-blooded heretic and traitor tries to inform me of things that he has no authority to spew out, or the choice of breaking these restraints and _slitting your delicious_ _ **throat!**_ "

At that, several players acted at once. Despite their lack of weapons, the rest of Team RWBY crowded around her, holding her away from the psychopath. "What is your problem?!" Weiss yelled out. Both the soldiers near him and the Frog Guards aimed their weapons at him, but in spite of that, he began chuckling.

With a song in his voice, Maveto said "The pawns no longer speak for the players, when one is Dahkat..~"

"Um," Ruby said, confused.

"Taking advantage of complacency after a war hard fought.~" he continued. "So far, his rule has been less than fine.~ So, as penance, I'll tear out all of your fucking spines!~"

"Enough." Rahjat suddenly said, standing upon the stage. "Maveto, sit in a chair and shut up."

Turning, Maveto was about to continue his mad ramblings to one of the targets of his revenge, but then he caught something; a glare in Rahjat's eye that burned with a mixture of hatred and pity that rivaled even the emotions burning through his own heart. Nodding, Maveto slowly sank into a nearby chair. Kyle Rayner said "Don't worry, if he tries anything, we can count it as an intergalactic crime."

"You'll do that for us?" Blake said.

"Well, I can," Kyle replied, "but should it not fall under my jurisdiction, as it were? That Na-Jal guy can probably take a look at it."

Afterwards, everything seemed to calm down. Everyone, in the room was now seated, save for the missing competitors and Atraxis, who remained in his dark corner. After a second, the door opened again. This time, the new person was Xander Cryn. He was still clad in a trenchcoat with a black shirt and jeans, though he seemed much more composed; in fact, he seemed pretty happy, at least when compared to the more vocally opposed of the competitors. Walking over to an empty seat, which was right next to Yang, he sat down and waiting. "So," he said to Yang. His voice was average for a man like him, though it was a tad bit more gravelly. "What's this whole meeting thing about?"

Yang turned to her new neighbor, for lack of a better term, and said "No idea. Probably like some guidelines or something." After a second, she held out her hand and said "I'm Yang."

"Xander," he replied, reaching over and shaking her hand. "Sorry, I was asleep through the whole introduction bit."

Chuckling, Yang said "Hey, it did drag on a while. Kinda got repetitive right around the time we got to me and my team."

Nodding, Xander replied with "Nice to know. I was just so tired and so ready to just let off some steam and fight some dudes, y'know? I was just out like a light while waiting for it to just end."

"Oh, don't even get me started!" Yang replied, bouncing in her chair with enthusiasm. "I was even punching our doors! Well, that was more out of anger then hype."

Xander put a hand over his mouth to drown out some laughter that bubbled out of his throat. "Well, that's one way to relieve stress."

It was at that moment that microphone feedback cut off any more discussions. Rahjat placed a microphone at the stand right as Noar walked out. He was still clad in the purple robes he appeared in a day before, but now he had added a necklace with an amethyst at the center. Walking over to the mic, he tapped it absentmindedly before saying "Is, uh...is everyone seated?" Upon looking up, he saw that he was missing a few competitors, most notably Sinestro and Atrocitus. "Rahjat. Where is the rest?"

Rahjat stood firmly, as six new faces appeared. They looked like androids, resembling chrome copies of Rahjat with a face-obscuring helmet on. Each one had spots in their heads, arms, legs, and the center of their torso where a color was highlighted. One was red, another cyan, another one was purple, yet another was silver, the fifth was gold, and the final sixth one was pink. Waving off the Rahjat's Six to stand by, he said in his usual monotone "I think they're either defiant or they went back to sleep."

Sighing, Noar waved that fact off. Coming from the left hand side, the commentators (Zafrax, Catherine, and Ouroborus) walked out, before sitting in the three chairs. Catherine and Ouroborus had a discussion that, as soon as they walked in, was being transmitted via microphone. "I will have you know," Ouroborus said, "That my ancestors are actually Terran as well!"

Catherine turned to him with a grin and said "Oh really? Where from, then?"

"Glasgow, Scotland," was his simple reply. And right then, Catherine's faced changed from playful to baffled.

"Um...then why do most of you sound like you're from, like, London or whatever?" was her simple question. At that, Ouroborus simply shrugged.

"The researchers outsourced some workers? I don't know!" he replied. Before speaking any further, Zafrax held out his hand.

"Your microphones are on," he replied.

To his annoyance, Ouroborus first reply was a "We know. It was just funnier that...way.." He then trailed off, turning his head to see Rahjat standing right there. He instintively stood up and saluted with a bow and a fist held to his chest. "G-General!"

Sighing, Rahjat walked closer to them and waved his hand. "At ease, Sairal," he replied, "How long has it been since you retired from active duty?"

Stumbling, Ouroborus said "F-Five years? Um, since the Civil War ended."

"Right," Rahjat said, his voice taking a wistful tone. Turning to the competitors, he simply said to them "Sorry to keep you all waiting."

Kyle Rayner scoffed and said "Don't worry! I can sit here all day!"

Chiming in close by, Blake said "Please don't...actually do that."

Noar cleared his throat and said "Right, okay. Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why you're here at this second, hm?" At the sounds of agreement and sight of some nodded heads, he continued. "Well, this is a sort of preliminary thing. Just a quick little thing for ground rules, a reminder of the brackets, that sort of thing."

Ignoring Maveto's gibbering, frothing anger at the sight of him, Noar snapped his leathery fingers and turned around, a projector screen, or something like it, clicking on. The slide showed a giant "Rules" plastered on it. "Right, the rules of the Zestrum Conflict are simple," he said, before waving his hand. A magical glow and several small orbs emerged, before the word Rules suddenly snapped in half. "Is that there are none whatsoever. Hits to the groin, deaths, and just stripping naked and doing goddamn cartwheels around the arena are all allowed. Doesn't mean you _should_ per se, but it's something to keep in mind."

"Keeping that in mind," Yang snarked, her team facepalming to her left and Xander chuckling to her right.

The second slide showed the brackets as previously shown. "Now, you've all seen these, right?" Noar said, pointedly staring at Xander, who was studying them carefully. Notably, his skin paled and he looked sickly all of a sudden, likely because he saw who his name was next to. "Okay. Now, the first fight of the tournament is Miss Ruby Rose, and Mister Z-Coatal. I said that because one of my guards down there is blind, and so I need to interpret for him."

With a croak, the Frog Guard he presumably was talking about nodded with a frown on his face. "Poor Lanerzin," Noar pitifully said. The final slide came up, showing a schematic of the arena. Noar glanced back to the screen before focusing back onto the competitors. He continued "Anyway, on a final note, some guidelines and things to keep in mind. First of all: If you are in a fight and you want to surrender, you must run back to the gates and pull the switch. That lowers the elevator. Secondly, the arena itself is designed on a random terrain generator. It used to be just the desert ground, but after the last event we had where that Sand Wraith killed a dude by popping him like a grape, we decided to have some variety."

Everyone who was paying attention and following along suddenly looked very disturbed. Raising a hand into the air, Weiss suddenly said "Hang on! What's a Sand Wraith?!"

"Well, it's a Wraith. It's made of sand. Naming options are limited with that sort of thing," Noar offhandedly replied, rolling his eyes with the tone of voice that reminded her of know-it-alls who stated the obvious. "And finally," he continued, before pulling a gavel out from his robes "Good luck." He slammed the gavel against the desk and the previously dimmed lights brightened up. After a second of waiting with no one moving, he suddenly said "Why are you still here? Get the fuck out! First fight's in thirty minutes!"

At that, everyone else walked out. After a while, Zafrax said "Well, that was a waste of time."

"Yeah," Catherine said, standing up. "Why are we here?"

"Simple, my dear Terran," Noar said, turning around to look into her orange eyes. "So you'll get a first hand look at exactly who will you be reporting the deaths of."

Ouroborus's eyes widened as Atraxis, forgotten in the commotion, walked out of his corner. With a dark chuckle, he eyes flashed a brighter red as he looked at Noar, who had bloodlust in his twisted eyes.

* * *

A/N: **Wow, this took longer than I expected. Hopefully this chapter was good enough to be worth it, though. It has some ship tease, some deeper character stuff, and quite the little twist at the end. I hope you enjoy this, and the next chapter. As that will be both the pre-fight and the fight between Ruby and Z-Coatal. So that should be fun.**


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